John 18:3 Then Judas, having gotten the cohort and some attendants from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with torches and lamps and weapons. (4)Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said tothem, Whom do you seek? (5) They answered Him, Jesus the Nazarene. He said to them, I am. And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.
The Lord delivered Himself in voluntary boldness into death willingly. In John 10 He told us that He would purposely give up His life for us. He is the Lord of life, and He is life. He has authority to die, and He has the authority to be resurrected. Of His own accord, He went into death and He came out of it. He does not have the problem of death; hence, it was unnecessary for Him to die. To us, however, death is not a matter of choice. We have neither the power nor the authority to reject death. When death comes, everyone must be subdued by it. But this was not so with the Lord, because He is the Lord of life and also life itself. Although He was not forced or compelled to die, He was willing to die because He had come to impart Himself to us as life. He knew that it was only through death that He could release Himself into us as life. In fact, He had already said that He was the one grain of wheat that was to fall into the ground and die (12:24). If a grain of wheat is unwilling to die, how can it release its life to bring forth many grains? In John 18 and 19 we see clearly that the Lord Jesus was very willing to die.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of John, pp. 505 Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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